A crooked accountant who fleeced dozens of friends and other clients out of £2.5m to feed his gambling addiction is today behind bars.

David Atkinson conned more than 100 people into sinking money into a ‘guaranteed’ investment scheme supposedly exploiting tax loopholes.

But instead of investing it, he used the cash to fuel an uncontrollable gambling addiction.

Many of his clients counted him as a friend as well as trusted advisor, and invested their life savings with him.

Fury of crooked accountant's victims 

The family of one victim say he lost the will to live after discovering the truth and believe the shock led to his death soon after.

Scheming Atkinson, 59, a father-of-two from Walton Street, Heywood, frittered away the cash betting huge sums on internet sites and football matches. Among his victims was Spotland Methodist Church in Rochdale where he was treasurer. He stole £200,00 from the the church, which is now facing financial ruin.
 
Jailing Atkinson for five years at Bolton Crown Court, Judge William Morris said: “The victim statements represent the theft of expectation, the theft of stability. They represent hopes dashed. So many of the statements can only be described as heart-rending.

“You knew your victims well. You cultivated their friendship in order to obtain their investment. You knew of their circumstances. You knew how they would be devastated emotionally and financially.”

Atkinson pleaded guilty to 15 counts of theft and asked for a further 58 offences to be taken into consideration.

He claimed he hoped to pay back his clients by gambling wins – a scheme which his own lawyer claimed was ‘fantasy’.

Atkinson - who has been declared bankrupt- ran Heywood accountancy firm PBAIS for several years and had owned his own practice for 25 years.

Many of those he convinced into making ‘no-risk’ investments were long-term clients, many of whom were also personal friends.

The scam ran between December 2003 and November 2008.

Apology

Atkinson came clean by going to his police station after being hounded by puzzled investors. He later wrote letters of apology to his victims.

Among them was Stanley Andrew, who ploughed £80,000 over 10 years into Atkinson’s bogus investment opportunity.

A renowned pianist, Stanley, 79, from Hayfield Grove, Middleton, planned to provide for his five children and grandchildren after Atkinson promised high-yield returns in lucrative deals.

But Atkinson, a close friend who was invited to family parties, gambled away the lot.

Today Stanley’s grieving family – including wife Maureen, son Stanley Jnr and daughter Julie – told how he never recovered from the news.

Stanley died eight months later, having been diagnosed with lung cancer.

Son Stanley Jnr, 49, said: “Someone he trusted for so long wiped my dad’s life out.

“Once he found out that he had been swindled by someone he thought was a friend he was never the same man. I believe this had an impact on my father’s death. There is no doubt about it. As far as I am concerned he killed my dad and all the family feel like that.”

Daughter Julie Andrew, 48, from Middleton, said: “We thought Atkinson was our friend but it turns out he was a conman.
 
“My dad just said he had lost all his money. He did not want to talk about it at first. From there he just went downhill.

“He stopped going on his Friday night out and stopped playing golf and watching the football. It was like I had a different father.

“I think my dad would have lived another three or four years if this had not happened. There is no doubt this guy contributed towards my dad's death.

“My dad loved his kids and all he was trying to do was provide for his family.

“There are lot of other families in the same position and we all just cannot understand how someone could do this.”

Fury of crooked accountant's victims